Comment by AB: "An impressive 20-year survey of work by Jeremy Fish features a solid wall of ink drawings, chronologically ordered, along with a selection of larger pieces along the opposite wall. Bask in the talent and imagination of this truly gifted artist. Definitely worth a visit."

Anyone who has lived through the last two tempestuous decades in the Bay Area knows they bear remembering. So it somehow makes perfect, surreal sense that, in honor of North Beach artist Jeremy Fish's 20th anniversary in San Francisco, he would resuscitate his anthropomorphized familiars - this rapping grizzly and that skateboarding doggie - mashed up with the bay's enduring and ephemeral sights and signs. "I'm not a generally communicative man," Fish confesses by phone. "I have a small circle of friends. I'm not as social as I was. So it's the equivalent of a guy who bitches or cheers about stuff he loves or hates. I've found this is my voice. This is the way I can stand up and say, 'This is what I love or hate.' " We talked to Fish about "Yesterdays and Tomorrows."

Q:What made you want to revisit these images?

A: Everything I make starts out as an 11-by-14 pen-and-ink drawing on Bristol board since I've been living here. At some point, when I had thousands of them, I thought it would be cool to fill a room with these. I moved here in August 1994 to go the Art Institute, and (FFDG's director and curator John Trippe and I) both worked at the same skateboard magazine ("Slap"). Why not do it at my friend's gallery after 20 years in this city?

Yesterdays and Tomorrows by Jeremy Fish, opening Friday, August 15th at FFDG in San Francisco, is a celebration of Fish’s 20 years of living in San Francisco. With that in mind, we wanted to bring this mural to life in, and literally on, some of the places that his drawings depict. We hope our readers will come celebrate on August 15, 2014, when we project this animated mural once again across from Fish’s art opening at FFDG.

Jeremy Fish celebrates 20 years in San Francisco with his upcoming solo show featuring both new and old works spanning his fine art and illustrative career.

Opening: August 15 (6-9pm) Preview inquires: info(at)ffdg.net

"At first glance, Fish's images seem to be rooted in an alternate world -- a world where gnomes travel via saddled dachshund-back and birds of all nations hatch adorned with the heads and hairstyles of every human stereotype imaginable. The bold, precise outlines give his ideas an immediate impact, but it's the aftertaste that really cuts deep. Everything comes with a story. -Aesop Rock. continue reading